What’s Blooming Now?

July
Amor Seco and Aratiles

Amor Seco is a pain. We still haven’t figured out how to get rid of it. It is growing thickly all over the paths and inside the paddock of the horses. So we know that it grows where there’s a lot of light and the grass is short. The seeds stick to my pants when I walk on the paths. I look like I have furry legs. The seeds stick to the horses faces and burrow themselves in between Momo’s toes. I had to take Momo to the vet when a seed went deep into his foot and made his foot swell up. If anyone knows how to get rid of this plant, please let me know!

So many ripe aratiles fruit! I wonder why the birds aren’t eating them all? They’re sweet and yummy!

SeptemberTabernaemontana pandacaqui

There are many plants in the Philippines that have this type of fruit that’s reddish and comes in pairs. Some with colorful names like “bayag usa” which is translated to “deer’s balls”.

When I first saw this plant in 2012, I asked for the ID in the Philippine Biodiversity Net Facebook group. That’s how I came up with Tabernaemontana pandacaqui. I looked at the photos in Phytoimages recently and was wondering about the ID because the shape and color of the fruit we have looks more like Tabernaemontana cumingiana. It turns out thatplants can have more than one scientific name. According to The Plant List, T cumingiana is a synonym ofT pandacaqui . The local name is also “pandakaki”. Maybe the different colors are different subspecies.

There are a lot of these growing all over. It makes me think that maybe the birds are eating the seeds and spreading them around.